Wednesday, March 19, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Ask any UNLV player and he'll swear there's enough fuel in the tank to continue the Rebels' National Invitation Tournament ride to New York.
Ask coach Bill Bayno, and he hopes they're right.
After being taken to overtime Monday night by a gutsy and determined Hawaii squad, UNLV flew all night to get to Tulsa, Okla., then bussed 90 miles here, arriving late Tuesday morning.
It has been nothing but sleep, eat and walk through the opposition's tendencies. And if that's going to be enough to defeat Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena, where the Razorbacks are 12-3 this season, then the 22-9 Rebels will have earned their trip to Madison Square Garden and a berth in the NIT Final Four.
"Even if you're tired, you can't think about being tired at this point," said junior center Keon Clark. "We've just got to go out and play.
"If we don't bounce back, we're going to have to come back and tell you guys (the media) why we didn't play hard. If you don't come back, you lose, and I don't want to lose."
Forward Tyrone Nesby, who led the Rebels with 26 points in the 89-80 overtime win against Hawaii, said there's plenty of incentive to re-energize.
"How can you not get up for a game like this?" he said of the quarterfinal matchup with the Razorbacks that the entire nation can watch on ESPN. "Our only concern is to come out and play hard from start to finish."
Then there are the five seniors, who would be playing their final game if they lost tonight. That's incentive enough to come up with something extra.
"It's going to be a tough game, but that's where senior leadership comes in," said Warren Rosegreen, one of the five. "We're so close to New York and we know we've got to get this one if we want to win the whole thing."
Rosegreen said mental toughness is the key to physically surviving Arkansas' pressure.
"You've got to fight through the pain, block it out," he said. "We've got to keep our minds on our business and not allow ourselves to get distracted."
Damian Smith said just being in Bud Walton Arena playing Arkansas is motivation to step up.
"We just need to get a good night's sleep and make sure we come out and play like we're capable of playing," he said. "It's right there. We've just got to come out and take it."
Bayno said the NBA-style road trip will test his team both physically and mentally.
"I'd love to have Arkansas on a red-eye to Vegas, but you've got to play the hand you're dealt.
"It's ridiculous. We flew all night and all morning to get here, but it's a good thing we left right after the game. If we had left in the morning, we'd be in big trouble."
Indeed. The Fayetteville Airport was socked in with fog Tuesday afternoon with air traffic being diverted to Fort Smith, an hour's drive from here. Had UNLV left Tuesday morning, the Rebels would have been stressing big time with precious little time to recover from the long trip.
But Bayno has faith that his team will compete tonight and try to beat the odds. Arkansas is a 7-point favorite on the underground line.
"Arkansas has some very good players," he said. "They make you work and they're going to pressure us. We've got to take care of the ball and we can't let them run in transition. We've got to get back."
Does UNLV have enough left in the tank to get to New York?
"I don't know," Bayno said. "I hope so. We're exhausted, mentally and physically. But no matter what happens, I know we'll give it everything we've got. I just hope it's good enough to win."
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